VIC Tourism & www.victourism.com.au false billing scam

A new false billing scam is actively targeting those who manage accommodation properties in Victoria. Bills are being posted out for unauthorised advertising on a website which bears a name very similar to Tourism Victoria – Victoria’s official tourism body.

Unauthorised bills are being sent out by VIC Tourism for advertising on the www.victourism.com.au website.  Below is a sample of an invoice they post out in the mail to many accommodation businesses.

Invoice - VIC Tourism – www.victourism.au
An example of an invoice sent out by VIC Tourism – www.victourism.com.au (recipient’s details blanked out)

Note the key characteristics of this invoice:

  1. It originates from a company titled Accommodation Find which trades as QLDTourism.com and is located in Queensland
  2. The company’s ABN is 18 086 159 195
  3. Their postal address is PO Box 1601 Oxenford QLD 4210
  4. Their billing enquiry phone number is 1800 199 863
  5. The invoice amount is $95.00
  6. The advertising period is not specified, just the vague mention of a “12 month subscription”
  7. In order to convince the recipient of its authenticity, there is a box titled “authorisation name” that specifies the name of who has supposedly authorised the listing, usually without a surname

To ensure that in the eyes of the law this tax invoice is regarded an optional invitation to advertise, there is wording on the invoice which states “this invoice is only payable if you wish to subscribe or renew your existing subscription for the product”.

Most people who receive an invoice like this never actually signed up for a listing with VIC Tourism.  The first they find out about it is when a bill arrives in the mail. If they ignore the bill, they may receive subsequent invoices at regular intervals in the future.

Accommodation listings on the VIC Tourism website are typically created by copying information, including wording and photos, found on other websites that an accommodation provider is listed on.  This process may be automated which means vast numbers of listings can be created with very little time and effort. If this data collection process occurred a long time ago, it may mean information they are displaying can be quite out of date. This may negatively impact upon your business or mislead people who do happen to view your listing on the VIC Tourism website.

Leigh Harry, CEO of Tourism Victoria
Leigh Harry, CEO of Tourism Victoria, urges all Victorian businesses not to fall for the ‘VIC Tourism’ false billing scam.

The way the advertising bills have been sent out has convinced some accommodation providers into thinking that VIC Tourism is the Victorian government’s official tourism organisation Tourism Victoria. This has resulted in some people paying the bill because they believe they are registering their accommodation for world-wide exposure and endorsement through the state’s official tourism body.

The chief executive officer of Tourism Victoria, Leigh Harry, has issued a strong warning through several media outlets to all businesses in Victoria to be on the look out for what he describes as “a dodgy letter and invoice” which seeks payment for an unsolicited 12-month listing on the unofficial and low-traffic Vic Tourism website.  Mr Harry has warned that the letters and invoices being sent out by Vic Tourism are “a scam”, and they are not related in any way whatsoever to Victoria’s official tourism organisation.

It is critically important that all accommodation providers keep an accurate list of all organisations they advertise their accommodation with. This ensures that any false bills, particularly those with names very similar to official organisations, are quickly identified. If there is any doubt about the authenticity of a bill, contact the issuer immediately and ask for proof of authorisation.

For further information, refer to the false billing scams information page on the ScamWatch website which has been set-up by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).

If you have inadvertently paid money to VIC Tourism, or even if you just receive one of their unauthorised bills in the mail, you can lodge a report with the ACCC by visiting their report a scam page.  Specify “false billing” as the scam type in your report.


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Comments

5 responses to “VIC Tourism & www.victourism.com.au false billing scam”

  1. Travel Victoria management team Avatar

    While investigating the activities of VIC Tourism, we found several warnings about it published by other organisations on the web.

    1) The Australian Tourism Accreditation Program has published a press release warning that VIC Tourism is not Tourism Victoria. Read more at http://www.atapvic.net.au/thetraps/?p=833

    2) Tourism Victoria published a warning about the Vic Tourism letter in their industry news publication. You’ll find it listed after the Chief Executive Message at http://www.tourism.vic.gov.au/tourism-industry/industry-news/past-editions/662-edition-105-march-2013.html

    3) Destination Melbourne have repeated Tourism Victoria’s warning about Vic Tourism within their newsletter. The posting can be found at http://www.destinationmelbourne.com.au/2013/01/important-notice-to-all-operators-%E2%80%93-be-careful/

    4) The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) is warning tourism operators to beware of misleading invoices from victourism.com.au. They urge people to keep in mind that Vic Tourism is not an official state tourism organisation and that they are not licensed distributors of ATDW’s content.

  2. Therese Davern Avatar
    Therese Davern

    I purchased Victorian tourism holiday package vouchers- I have tried to ring the number on the voucher but it always busy or perhaps disconnected. Are they still valid- they seemed like such a good idea at the time-can you give me another number to try?

    1. Travel Victoria management team Avatar

      What was the phone number listed on the vouchers? I suspect those vouchers are from a different organisation than “VIC Tourism” which has been billing property owners for an advertising plan they never ordered.

  3. Travel Victoria management team Avatar

    AccommNews, a newsletter and website that keeps accommodation industry professionals updated about the latest industry news, has also become aware of the activities of Special Days (the company behind Accommodation Find and VIC Tourism), its director Amanda Stichbury, and the network of websites they run. They have actual copies of bills for unauthorised advertising and even letters of demand for payment which have been sent to accommodation properties that have not paid for their unauthorised advertising. More information is available within the AccommNews article “Unauthorised website listings worry resorts” at:

    http://www.accomnews.com.au/2014/03/unauthorised-website-list-ings-worry-resorts/

  4. Travel Victoria management team Avatar

    The Vic Tourism website, which is listed as being run by Accommodation Find, is a product of the company Special Days Pty Ltd. They also have published the Accommodation VIC website which is run similarly – i.e. composed of primarily unauthorised listings with bills sent out to businesses for advertising that they never ordered. You can read more about the Accommodation VIC website at:

    https://blog.travelvictoria.com.au/2013/05/31/accommodation-vic-www-accommodationvic-com-au-false-billing-scam/

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